Originally approved in 1877, its construction over nearly thirty years along with the building of other lines in Queensland was dictated by the pressing need to transport minerals and wool from isolated inland areas to the coast for shipment.
To the goldfields In Townsville's case, it was given impetus by the discovery of gold at
Ravenswood, Queensland and
Charters Towers, Queensland in 1868 and 1872 respectively. The first section of the railway opened on 20 December 1880 and followed a southerly path to
Reid River via small sidings at
Stuart, Antill Plains,
Toonpan,
Woodstock and
Calcium. The line then turned westward and climbed the Haughton Range using 1 in 25 (4%) grades and ~65 m (3.5 chain) radius curves in order to minimise construction costs. The line opened on 9 November 1881 to Ravenswood Junction (renamed
Mingela in 1931 after closure of the Ravenswood branch railway). On 24 July 1882 the line opened to the
Burdekin River at
Macrossan (named after
John Murtagh Macrossan) and via
Sellheim reached
Charters Towers railway station on 4 December 1882. Trains took more than five hours to cover roughly 140 kilometres from Townville. The line proved so successful that the original Haughton Range section was deviated in 1887 with a 6 km line with 1 in 50 (2%) grades to improve the tonnage that could be hauled on the section. The original 1-in-25 alignment is now used by the
Flinders Highway. In 1899, the first bridge over the Burdekin River was replaced by the
Burdekin River Rail Bridge designed by chief railway engineer,
Henry Charles Stanley. Although replaced by a third bridge in 1964, the second bridge remains and is listed on the
Queensland Heritage Register.
West for wool In 1881, the
Queensland Parliament approved a trebling of the line further west to Hughenden. The significant extension was again opened in stages – on 11 February 1884 to
Homestead via sidings at
Southern Cross,
Powlathanga,
Balfes Creek,
Mungunburra and
Thalanga; on 6 October 1884 to
Pentland via
Kimburra and
Cape River; on 5 October 1885 to
Torrens Creek via
Warrigal and
Burra; on 3 January 1887 to
Prairie via Wareah and
Karoon and, finally, on 19 October 1887 via
Tindo,
Jardine Valley and
Poorooga sidings to Hughenden. The line proved very profitable and a daily mixed train took about thirteen hours to complete the journey from
Old Townsville railway station. Although by 1892, inland trunk routes extended as far west as Hughenden,
Longreach, Queensland and
Charleville, Queensland, those termini were still a long way from Queensland's western border and the State Government was keen to encourage settlement in the largely dry and remote central and southern far west. With this in mind, an extension from Hughenden south-west to
Winton was approved in 1896 and 1897. Construction was undertaken in three stages. The line opened via
Watten,
Alba and
Warianna sidings to Stamford on 13 December 1897, via
Chinbi,
Whitewood and
Tarvano to
Corfield (previously Manuka) on 15 October 1898 and via sidings at
Olio,
Lana,
Prubi,
Oondooroo and
Rangelands to
Winton on 5 July 1899. Winton passengers could make it to Townsville in about seventeen hours whilst an additional mixed service ran between Winton and Hughenden.
Further west to the copper fields Cloncurry had been proposed as the destination of the railway from
Normanton, but that was diverted to Croydon when gold was discovered there. The economic depression of the 1890s meant that the next proposal for a railway to Cloncurry was delayed by a decade. Having linked Winton to Townsville, copper mining around Cloncurry and vast numbers of sheep and cattle prompted extension of the line directly west from
Hughenden. First section constructed was the 110 km to Richmond in 1902. About two-thirds of the section opened to
Marathon on 15 December 1903 with tiny sidings established at Ballindallock, Boree, Dunluce and Mumu. The speed on the line was limited to . Only six months later on 1 June 1904, Richmond was reached via Barabon and Moselle. Transport of livestock, wool and passengers were thus connected to Townsville. Another extension of nearly 150 kilometres was approved to
Julia Creek, Queensland in late 1905 and in December 1906 so too was the remaining 130 kilometres to Cloncurry. Work did not get underway until September 1906 but proceeded rapidly, with temporary crossings of the dry river beds being made ahead of bridge construction so track laying was not delayed. In this arid region that was not a problem for most of the time, and explains the large time difference between the arrival of the first train and the official opening of a section. 85 km of rail that had been sent to Normanton and not used when the line was diverted to Croydon was used to construct part of the line that finally reached Cloncurry. It was railed from Croydon (where it had been stored) back to Normanton, then shipped around Cape York Peninsula to Townsville and railed to the new construction. The first train ran to Julia Creek in June 1907 although the line officially opened on 29 February 1908. As before, sidings were installed at
Gemoka (),
Maxwelton,
Nonda,
Nelia () and Quarells to serve nearby sheep and cattle stations. Cloncurry welcomed its first train on 14 December 1907 but it was 13 December 1908 before the official opening took place. Sidings on this section were at Eddington, Gilliat, Tibarri, Bookin, Oorindi, Undina, Pymurra, Kaampa and Oonoomurra. The weekly mail train from Townsville took nearly twenty-four hours to reach Cloncurry.
Beyond Cloncurry The route to later connect Cloncurry with Mount Isa was a creature of history. Any extension beyond Cloncurry was overwhelmingly to be dictated by mining interests. The first section went south, with the second section going south west and the final section going north west. Firstly came the Selwyn Branch Railway (
Dajarra and Selwyn railway lines) that opened on 15 December 1910 and ran south from Cloncurry to the Hampden and Mt Elliott mines. Smelted copper was railed east and coking coal on return journeys. Cattle and coke also exchanged trips. Next in 1911, came construction work on the Dajarra Branch Railway south-west of the Selwyn Branch. It branched from the Selwyn branch at
Malbon and opened to
Duchess on 21 October 1912 and to
Dajarra on 16 April 1917. In 1923, vast silver and lead deposits were discovered at Mount Isa 121 kilometres by road from Cloncurry, 150 kilometres by road north of Dajarra but only 87 kilometres north of Duchess. There was an urgent need to connect rail to the area but the Government was reluctant to invest in what could be a limited life of operation. However the mining company guaranteed any losses on the line and construction began in 1926. Sidings appeared at Myubee, Woonigan, Kurbayia and Rifle Creek and the line opened at last on 27 May 1929. It brought construction of the Great Northern Railway to an end and gave Mount Isa a crucial link to the eastern seaboard. Contrary to the Government's doubt, the Mount Isa mine became one of the world's most successful operations that continues to this day.
Branch lines Ravenswood Junction–Ravenswood Opened on 1 December 1884, the Ravenswood Branch ran via Kirk River some 39 kilometres from Ravenswood Junction to access silver mining operations to the south-east. Although silver smelting faltered in 1886, the line operated for more than thirty years carrying passengers, cattle, minerals and firewood. Ravenswood had the unfortunate distinction however of being the first Queensland town to lose its railway in November 1930, and the junction station was renamed Mingela. Most of its buildings and mining infrastructure are now classified by National Trust.
Hughenden–Winton Opened 1899, closed 2008, this was originally part of the Great Northern line until the section west of Hughenden became the main line.
Cloncurry–Mt Cuthbert (later Kajabbi) line opened between 1914–1917 to service mining areas. The Oona–Mt Cuthbert section closed in 1949, the Kajabbi–Dobbyn section in 1961 and Cloncurry–Kajabbi closed in 1994, having been a livestock transport line for the final 33 years.
Cloncurry–Selwyn Opened in 1910 to serve a mining area, it was funded 20% by the Hampton mine, 30% by the Mt Elliot mine and 50% by the government on the basis the line might be extended further west, which happened the following year from a junction at Malbon. The Cloncurry–Malbon section is now part of the main line. The Malbon - Selwyn branch closed in 1961.
Devoncourt–Ballara Built by the Hampton mine as a 35 km private line to the Wee Macgregor mine, it opened in 1915 and connected to a 3 km 610mm (2') gauge tramway. The ore was soon exhausted and the line closed in 1926.
Flynn–Phosphate Hill Opened in 1976 to serve a large deposit of phosphate rock for fertiliser. Built to main line standards with 47 kg/m rail and grades of 1 in 125 (0.8%).
Duchess–Dajarra Opened 1913–1917 as part of the
Great Western Railway proposal, closed 1993.
Juenburra–Trekalano Opened 1918, a 12 km spur from the Dajarra line to serve a mine, closed 1943
1980s deviation In the 1980s, the second stage of the
Ross River Dam necessitated a deviation of the
Flinders Highway and the Mount Isa railway line (which previously ran straight north-south) to be relocated further east. This was completed by 1986 and resulted in the closure of Toonpan and Barringha railway stations on the removed route; they were not re-established on new route.
2019 floods In February 2019, flooding damaged of track between Cloncurry and Hughenden with over 204 places suffering serious erosion and 16 bridges damaged. The repair work needed of
ballast and 10,000 new
sleepers. The flooding caused the derailment of a
Pacific National freight train with 81 wagons at Nelia. A rail deviation was constructed around the derailment.
2022 derailments In July 2022, the line was closed for approximately ten days following a derailment of a containerised freight train between
Nonda and
Neila. During the derailment, wagons damaged nine kilometres of track when they came off the rails but remained upright. The line closure prompted mining companies to use road trains to transport their freight products along the Flinders Highway, prompting safety concerns. ==Services==